The system had created a map for me, almost like a quest tracker in an RPG. The ruins lay a few hours north of the capital. Wondering what the ruin would be like, I took one last look behind me. Sorry princess.
I could see the ruins an hour before I reached them. The ruins were far more massive than I thought they would be. Strangely enough, they looked like they were from an advanced ancient civilization. Like it was from Star Wars or something. Ancient tubes sprawled amongst the extensive waste, amongst the rubble of the homes of a forgone civilization. Ruins give me a sense of existential dread.
As I neared the ruins I could start to make out what was in the tubes. People? They don't appear to have aged a day. Unnerving. I walked along the ruins, peeping into the tubes as I walked past them, half expecting a xenomorph to jump out, tearing my face off. But it was just people. Who looked like me, but... not.
Shuddering, I continued.
Where's the Leviathan? Where's my quest?
Confusion invaded my mind as I walked. All I saw here was death... I looked at one of the persons, perfectly preserved- no, stagnation. Whoever these people are, they've perfectly outlived their age. Still, why bring me here?
Shuddering, I continued.
Past tubes and ruined houses. A forgotten age.
Finally, I think I arrived where I was supposed to go. A bunker leading into an ancient depth. The leviathan has to be here. Looking around the ruins I tried to see anything else that resembled a quest. Nothing but ruined buildings and forgotten people. I turned around with a gulp. Be friendly, you old, decrepit bunker. I don't want to resurrect any ghosts.
I began my descent.
The stairway was cold and desolate, filled with cobwebs. Still, some grandiose futuristic models remained. Although the pipes have been remodeled by age and the filtration system has long stopped working -cough- there still remained some semblance of wonder. Although this place was similar to what I've seen in sci-fi movies, there was an eerie dissonance. As if it was both exactly what I thought it would be, yet at the same time completely different.
After a relatively long trek down an endless amount of stairs, I finally reached the bottom. Thus finding myself in a maze. After a few minutes of exploring, I realized the bunker had an endless amount of rooms as if it was one giant labyrinth. Wouldn't people want to live here? How would anyone get around? Sighing, I decided to sit down for a minute.
Looking around, I realized I was in some kind of classroom. Textbooks were cluttered on a shelf, surrounded by a bunch of weird box things. Where my classroom would have a blackboard, there was some kind of empty screen. I thought it was like a whiteboard a few of the more important classes in my school got, but I didn't see any projector or computer. Maybe this civilization just outgrew that technology. There were many desks, probably at least 30, but they looked... weird.
Getting up, I started examining the desks. They had seats of course, but the desk itself seemed to be incorporeal, as I could stick my hand through it. Is it a projection? Where is the energy source then? I looked around the room, racking my head trying to figure that out. No dice. This stuff is beyond my understanding. Going over to the textbooks, I picked one up and tried to see if I could read its title. At first, it was in a completely foreign language. I couldn't even compare this to another language like hieroglyphics, it was more foreign than even that. Thankfully, a message flashed across my face saying "Translation complete."
"A Beginner's Guide to the Macroverse." Macroverse? What the heck is that? I opened the book to see if I'd get any quick answers-
Plop!
As the book fell to the floor I grabbed my eye, screaming. Within moments I was on the ground writhing in pain. My head was exploding.
Just as quickly as the pain began, it subsided. A message flashed across my eyes just as before, except this time it said "Restricted information. Further attempts to read this book will result in worse punishment." What the hell is in that book? I looked at it with a growing curiosity, but the throbbing of my eye kept me in my place. I kicked the book in disgust and left the room.
Traveling through the halls, I looked for anything that could be considered a map. Did these people just have a GPS injected into their brains?! Well, maybe they did. But I don't! Be considerate of me dammit!
"I'm lost."
Why the hell did that stupid cat send me here? I'm gonna beat the crap out of him next time I see him.
I suddenly had an idea, summoning my sword and making a mark on the wall. Why didn't I think of this earlier... For the next 30 minutes, I did this, making a scratch on each wall so I would know if I already searched that corridor. Then I realized a sad truth.
I've been running around in circles.
Defeated, I punched a wall and screamed "Curse you, you stupid ass cat!"
In some stories that would be enough to open a path. Either the wall would crumble, exposing a hidden passage, or the cat would appear and be useful for once. Unfortunately, I was still alone.
Would the princess have been able to help me? Maybe. She knows more about this world than I do anyway. Of course, it is her home world. This kind of place would probably be part of the common curriculum in any history class.
Yea, she'd probably get me out of this mess in no time.
But leaving her behind wasn't a bad idea. I can't be trusted with my own power right now.
I don't know if I believed my own justifications for lying to and alienating her.
I punched the wall again before hanging my head like a child does when bored.
"This is stupid!"
My voice reverberated throughout the hallway, accentuating my loneliness. After a few more minutes of sulking, I decided to get up again.
It took a few turns, but I eventually found a hallway I hadn't marked. I was making progress!?
Feeling the pressure in this hallway I almost wish I hadn't. It's not necessarily that it was overwhelmingly strong. In fact, it was barely subtle. It was more so the eerily similar and sinister feeling I got when I used that release skill. There was something about this hallway that screamed almost me.
But I did all this work to get here, so I'm not letting the creeps stop me. I'm pushing forward.
As I kept moving forward past a multitude of rooms I started to notice a common motif: blood. And lots of it. At first it was a few drops barely registered by my subconscious, but now it was smeared across the walls, the floor, even the ceiling. Whatever happened here... was a massacre.
Push forward. A few more steps. More blood. A lot more.
A corpse.
Fresh.
What the hell?!
I instantly began looking around, searching for an assailant. I wasn't alone here after all. But one corpse doesn't make that much blood...
Not seeing anyone else, I decided to examine the corpse. Maybe it's injuries could help tell me what it was that killed it.
Her. Upon closer look I could tell it was a girl. Even with her scars and mangled face, I could tell she was one of those future past people. It's hard to describe, but once you see it one time the dissonance between expectation and reality is engraved in your head.
It appeared as if whatever had killed her used some kind of sword. Why would they use swords in the fut-
"GET AWAY FROM ME!!!!"
Suddenly the corpse sprang up, throwing me into the wall hard enough to dent it. What the hell? I watched as her mangled arms somehow propelled her upwards into a sitting position, ready to pounce. How the hell can she move with those injuries?! Her arms appeared as if they were ready to snap in half, you could even see broken bone through her flesh. Every part of her face was disfigured in some way. Her eyes... had gone completely black, and exuded an aura of feral ferocity. What the h-
She jumped at me with blinding speed once again. This time I was ready though, and grabbed her and pinned her to the wall.
"Lady, c- calm down please. T- tell me whatthehell!!!"
As I tried to get answers, I could only watch as she writhed in my grasp, struggling until all the fibers of her muscle were destroyed. She broke apart her entire body even more in an attempt to escape me...
I let go of her now fully lifeless corpse.
As she fell down, I sat down myself with shuddering breath.
And cried.